Beginning Of The End
by BriLady
Summary: Anuw is the daughter of a fox demon father and a half demon mother. After their death when she was still young she must pull herself and her life back together...
1. Beginning Of The End

"Beginning of the End"  
  
" Run, Take Anuw and run!" A woman yells, her voice pleading.  
  
"But." the man stammered, a little girl by his side.  
  
" Kaemon, I love you and you love me, do what's best for our daughter." The woman says, the black cat ears on her head twitch, she knows they are coming. "Right. goodbye my love." My father picked me up and runs for his life. " Mommy!" I screamed tears running down my face. I watched as my mother was slaughtered if front of my young eyes, just because she was a half demon. My father and I ran day in and day out, we were running for our lives from the humans that hated us. We were very close, my father and I. He had taught me everything I know. That's why it was hard when I lost him only a few months later to a group of bandits.  
  
Some how I was able to raise myself to my current age of fifteen or at least that's how old I look. I'm really about sixty-five. It's a complete miracle I lived this long. Those humans, I've learned not to trust them. I hide from them the best I can, but there are no guarantees. My story begins about fifty years ago, when I really was fifteen.  
Early one foggy morning, before the sun had risen I was out looking for an early morning snack. I'll admit I wandered a little to close to a village. I heard people yell,  
"Lady Kikyo! A demon I search of the Shikon Jewel has wandered into the village!" The Shikon Jewel, I had heard of it but I never sought for it, try telling them that. Before I could explain myself a young woman, about my age walked towards me, a small purple jewel in her hand. There was a bow and quiver full of arrows on her back. My instincts kicked into high gear. the voice said in my mind, and run I did. I had no ambition to be killed that day. I ran out of the village and into the forest that bordered the small town. The girl, Kikyo as the people had called her did not give chase, she just stood there and watched me run.  
"Why are you not going after that monster Lady Kikyo?" One man questioned. She turned and looked at him with her lonely brown eyes.  
" It was not the jewel she was seeking." She said tightening her grasp on the jewel. I continued to run until I literally stumbled upon an abandoned foxhole. The perfect place to hang out until things calmed down. and my heart stopped beating a million miles a minute. Pulling a leaf out of my coat I placed it on my head a * poof * I changed into a fox. Climbing down into the hole I stayed there and slept away the rest of the day.  
I later awoke, the sun was high above my head.  
" Over here. the tracks from that demon stop here." A males voice said, it was the same man from the village.  
" That stupid demon must have been hiding here the whole time without us ever knowing. It could have come and killed us all." Another man said.  
" Ya, and all because Kikyo." the second man glared at him.  
" Lady Kikyo for those that respect her." He said.  
" Yes, my apologizes. Lady Kikyo should have killed it when she had the chance. Whether it was after the jewel or not is still deserves to burn in hell." This wasn't good. In the safety of my transformed body I just trotted out of the hole and walked right by them, flipping my tail at them as I left. Suddenly there are screams, coming from the village.  
" It's Inu-Yasha!" the voices cry. The men that had been perusing me quickly turned and ran back to the village. I followed them until something runs past me in a blur of red and white.  
" Inu-Yasha!" A woman cries, her blood leaving a trail behind her. It was the priestess from before, Kikyo. She fires a single arrow hitting this Inu-yasha and tacking him to a tree. He whispered the priestess's name before dropping something, it was that jewel Kikyo had been holding that morning. Picking up the jewel she walked towards the village and suddenly collapsed. Muttering something to a small girl that had run to her aid, she winced and then died.  
" Sister Kikyo? Sister Kikyo!" the little girl cried.  
  
I sat hidden in the shadows. What had I just witnessed? The murder of a hanyou and the death of a young woman, all in the same day, it was too much for me. I ran back into the forest were I was met by a young man, well demon actually, although he didn't look it. He had short brown hair, dark brown dog-ears; one that flopped over and one that stood up, and a long tail of the same color. This was Xing-Xing, my mate of two and half years. Changing back into myself, he caught me in a tender embrace. I stared into his ice blue eyes, into his soul, he stared back.  
"How long does it take to find a snack?" He asked, a hint of relief in his voice. I explained to him what had happened, and what I had just seen.  
" All of that happened, and yet you forgot the snack you left for before dawn." He said lightheartedly. Xing-Xing was more than my mate, he was my best friend, my only friend, and I don't know how I could live without him. But I would have to learn, the humans killed him shortly after this day, after we were wrongly accused of killing a person from the village.  
My life from that point on is a blur, like it never happened. I don't remember anything of the past fifty years, nothing. I was never really 'there' if you get my point. That is until I met Inu-yasha, freed from the tree of which he had been pinned to for the past fifty years. That is a day I shall remember for the rest of my life.  
  
Briana Ring  
Revised on 12-18-03 


	2. A New Friend

"A new friend"  
  
My clothes in tatters, I was covered in cuts and blood. A run in with a pack of demons had not ended well. I ran through the forest with a slight limp, one of the demons had wounded my right leg. The wound left a trail of blood that shimmered in the full moons light. The pack of demons behind me screeching and screaming into the darkness, they were close. Suddenly a blade was heard cutting through the air; it pierced through my back, the end of the sword shown out my chest. I fell to the cold earth trying to find my breath and as I lay there I began to shiver, not from the coolness of the air, but from the fear of being torn apart by a horde of bloodthirsty monsters. Covering my head with my hands I closed my eyes tightly and waited for it, death was coming.  
' This is it' I thought. ' I am going to die there is nothing I can say or do that will change these monsters minds. They have found their next victim, their next meal. This is it, I am going to die.' The demons found me helpless and bleeding, they readied their fangs tonight they would feast.  
  
" This way." Kagome pointed deeper into the forest. " There's a Shikon jewel shard that way." Inu-yasha nodded his head and took off with Kagome and Shippo clinging tightly to his back. After going quite far he stopped and smelled the air, his ears twitched nervously.  
" What is it Inu-yasha?" she asked.  
" Demons, and lot of them. And blood, the blood of another, a human or a demon I can't tell." He quickly took off following the scent of demons.  
  
The demons torn at me with their claws and fangs, attacking harder with the growing amount of blood being spilled. They would pick me up in their jaws and shake me violently then throw me to the ground and continue with the vicious mauling. I did not try to fight them off, it was hopeless, these were demons, and a demon I am not. The daughter of a half demon and kitsune, but a demon that does not make me. Whether I am human or demon it doesn't matter, I still bleed the same blood, feel the same pains.  
" Tetsusaiga!" A males voice yelled, the sound of a blade ripping through flesh and bones and suddenly all of the demons were gone. I didn't move, I had not the energy; I didn't even open my eyes.  
" Kagome, is this were the shard is?" the voice said. The sound of a responding voice could not be heard, instead the sound of feet walking up to me.  
" Kagome stop!" The footsteps stopped.  
" Let go we have to help her!" A females voice this time. As the girl fought with the guy there was the sound of footsteps coming towards me, these ones were softer and much smaller then the first.  
" Hey," a child said. "Are you ok?" The child poked my arm.  
" SIT!" the girl yelled. The ground shook as some thing fell quite hard. I heard her walk over to me. I opened my eyes and looked at her. Her face resembled that of the priestess I had seen die all those years ago. Filled with a sudden jolt of energy I pulled away from this girl. Was she going to kill me like that hanyou, shoot me and leave me to die? No, there was something that differed from the priestess, this girl's eyes they were soft and kind unlike those of the priestess which were filled with fear and hate. Suddenly something catches my eye, something sparkling in the moons light. It's a Shikon jewel shard, my jewel shard, the whole reason those demons were after me in the first place. Reaching over I picked it up out of the puddle of blood that had formed around me and cleaned it off with what was left of the sleeve of my shirt. Someone appeared from behind the girl, Kagome as the guy had called her. He had white hair and a red kimono, it was that hanyou Kikyo had killed; I think she called him Inu-yasha. He walked right up to me and held out his hand.  
" Hand over the shard." He demanded. Slowly I got to my feet and placed the shard in his hand dripping blood on him as I did. I never took my gaze off the ground, looking at him may seem like a threat and I didn't want him to attack me.  
" Take it," I whispered. " I don't want it anymore. Nothing but trouble has come from it." I turned around, catching a glimpse of the group before I began to hobble away into the dark. I didn't get to far, the mass amount of blood I had lost was too much for my body to handle I collapsed.  
  
Inu-yasha looked at the shard in his hand, still coated in blood, even after being wiped off. He stood in silence.  
" You alright Inu-yasha?" Kagome asked Shippo perched on her shoulder. With out warning he grabbed her hand and took off in my direction. He found me, lying face down in a puddle of blood. Picking me up he ran to the village of Keade.  
  
When I opened my eyes a girl was looking down at me, it was that girl from before, Kagome. She looked relived to see I was wake. It took a moment for me to realize I wasn't in the woods any more; I was in a small wooden hut. A small fire burned in the center of the room, Inu-yasha was no were to be seen. Why had she brought me here? Why did she care what happened to me? They got the shard, I figured that was all they wanted. But for some reason she seemed to want to help me.  
" Are you alright?" she asked me. I didn't say anything. "Here." she pulled out a small white pack with a red cross on the front. Any other human would have killed me, right then and there, but instead she began to tend to my wounds. As she finished wrapping my chest in a white cloth, an old woman walked in.  
" How is she doing Kagome?" the woman asked.  
" Better." The old woman turned and looked at me.  
" Aye, what is your name child?" she asked kindly. I was silent for a moment, my black ears folded back against my head.  
" Anuw." I said softly, to use to being around this many humans, let alone talking to one.  
" There is no reason to be afraid, your wounds have been cleaned and bandaged. Rest now, no one here will hurt ye." She left Kagome followed her. I didn't ask questions, I felt I could trust these people. I laid back and fell asleep.  
  
Briana Ring  
Revised on 1-11-04 


	3. Black Sky, Red Earth

" Black Sky, Red Earth"  
  
I awoke in the middle of the night, I had rolled onto my arm, causing the puncture wounds to reopen and bleed.  
" Damn it." I pressed my hand against the wound until it stopped. Thankfully the scent of blood had not awakened Inu-yasha. As I lay down hoping to go back to sleep I heard the patter of feet on the floor. The small fox child walked up to me, obviously awakened by the smell of my blood. He said nothing, just looked at me, his green eyes filled with worry. I rolled my eyes and sighed, this small demon was worried about me.  
  
" What's the matter kid? Can't sleep?" I asked softly. He shook his head causing his ponytail to wave back and forth. Sitting down in front of me he looked at me, the wheels in his mind turning. I pondered what could be going through his head.  
" You alright?" He nodded his head and ran back to Kagome's sleeping body, his feet making a soft patter as he did. Leaning against the wall I waited until I heard quiet snore coming from the fox child's direction. Then slowly I stood up and walked towards the door, never making a sound. Once outside I made my way towards the forest.  
  
Only moments after my departure, Inu-yasha's ears twitched, slowly opening his amber eyes he surveys the room. He sees Kagome, medical kit in hand running out the door.  
" Hey, where are you going?!" He exclaims.  
"Anuw is gone."  
"Feh, so."  
" So? So I'm going after her." Kagome replied. Climbing onto her bike she follows the blood that had spilled from my reopened wounds.  
  
Although I had tread lightly my wounds still bled, which was the last thing I needed. Just the scent of it could attract demons and I was in no condition to fight. As I walked I heard something behind me, it was a strange sound, like squeaky metal.  
" Anuw!" I spun around and saw Kagome coming up behind me on her bike.  
" Kagome? Why did you follow me?" I ask holding my left arm blood dripped out from around my fingers.  
" Your hurt, you shouldn't be out here a demon."  
" A demon might attack me? I've lived on my own for the past sixty years and your worried for my safety? You should be more worried about your self." Turning my back to her I continued deeper into the forest. As I limp to my unknown destination a sound makes it's way through the trees and to my ears. Something was coming my way, something big.  
" Kagome," I said, a hint of unease in my voice. " If you value your life you should flee this place at once."  
" Not with out you." At that moment the ground shook and an enormous clawed hand grabbed Kagome right off her bike, causing her to drop her medical kit, as well as her bow and quiver full of arrows. Her screams pierced through the crisp night air.  
  
The sound carried to Inu-yasha's ears. His amber eyes widened.  
" Kagome!" He sprang to his feet and ran in the direction of her cries.  
  
I attacked the demon, my claws ready to rip it apart. Before I even got close it struck me, hurling me into the ground. Dazed for only a moment I got back on my feet and prepared to charge it again ignoring the sharp pain in my chest and the bandages on my chest becoming stained with fresh blood. Suddenly I spotted something out of the corner of my eye, it was Kagome's bow and arrows. Quickly I picked them up, placed the arrow on the string and let it fly free. I hit my target, back this caused the demon to grasp at the wound, releasing Kagome from it's grasp. She free fell for only a moment when a blur of red and white flew over my head and caught her.  
" Inu-yasha!" she cried. While Inu-yasha was still in the air I picked up another arrow, this one burst into blue flames. The arrow soared through air leaving a trail of blue light against the darkness of the night sky, embedding itself in the demons flesh. Suddenly the demon burst into flames and only seconds later the blaze died and there was nothing but a pile of ash where the monstrous demon once stood. Inu-yasha and Kagome stood in awe at the amount of power they had just witnessed. It had only taken a moment to destroy the demon Inu-yasha didn't even draw Tetsusaiga. Kagome ran up to me, medical kit in hand and quickly began to rewrap some of my wounds. We were both silent as she worked, Inu-yasha stood in the shadows and waited. Upon tying the last bandage she looked up at me.  
" Thank you." She whispered. I didn't say anything only returned my gaze to the earth. After a moment I asked,  
" Why are you helping me?"  
" Because that's what friends do." Kagome replied. " They help each other. Inu-yasha saved you, you saved me." She smiled. Inu-yasha, sick of the sentimental crap took off for Kaede' s, I slowly got to my feet and followed him.  
" C'mon Kagome or we'll leave you behind!" He called to her. She quickly grabbed her bow and quiver and raced after us.  
" Hey, wait up!"  
  
We arrived back at Kaede' s just as the sun began to rise over the eastern horizon. Quietly entering the small hut we found Shippo, curled up in Kagome's sleeping bag, oblivious to everything that had just happened.  
" I see ye have returned." Kaede said standing in the doorway. She sees me; I'm in worse shape than when I left.  
" Did ye have any trouble?" she inquired.  
" Nothing we couldn't handle." Inu-yasha said.  
" You mean nothing 'I' couldn't handle." I corrected. Kaede turned to Kagome.  
" I see ye have gained a new friend." She looks over at Inu-yasha and me bickering.  
" I think she'll fit right in." Kagome sighed.  
  
Later, after filling our stomachs with a few bowls of rice we headed out to continue the search for the rest of the jewel shards.  
  
Briana Ring  
Revised on 1-21-04 


End file.
